TweetHere’s a letter to a new correspondent. Mr. __: Thanks for sharing Sohrab Ahmari’s tweet, which I’d not otherwise have noticed. It is, frankly, pathetically inept. In order to criticize the pro-free-market Acton Institute, Ahmari favorably quotes Pope Leo’s assertion that “pseudo-scientific data are invoked to support the claim that a free market economy will…
Sorry, But Pope Leo Is Mistaken
Sorry, But Pope Leo Is Mistaken
13 Oct 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economics of religion, growth disasters, growth miracles Tags: The Great Enrichment
UN, EU, ICJ, Climate Cabal want to keep world’s poor impoverished
07 Oct 2025 1 Comment
in development economics, economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, law and economics Tags: climate alarmism
Poor and developing nations need to band together, finance their own energy infrastructure, development, health and prosperity – and tell the carbon colonialists to take a hike.
UN, EU, ICJ, Climate Cabal want to keep world’s poor impoverished
The population bust
02 Oct 2025 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, growth miracles, labour economics, labour supply, population economics Tags: ageing society, China, population bust
Economics of Trade Sanctions
26 Sep 2025 1 Comment
in applied price theory, defence economics, development economics, economic history, economics of regulation, industrial organisation, international economics Tags: trade sanctions
The exercise of US foreign policy (along with the European Union and the United Nations) has been increasingly characterized by the use (or threat) of trade sanctions. What do we know about how such sanctions work? Gabriel Felbermayr, T. Clifton Morgan, Constantinos Syropoulos, and Yoto V. Yotov review the evidence in “Economic Sanctions: Stylized Facts…
Economics of Trade Sanctions
Colonisation was liberation
25 Sep 2025 1 Comment
in constitutional political economy, development economics, economic history, politics - New Zealand Tags: Age of Discovery, age of empires, economics of colonialism
It is striking how often the loudest voices in New Zealand’s race debate come from those who have the faintest connection to being Māori. The same individuals who enjoy cushy jobs and generous salaries often exploit a sliver of Māori ancestry to advance themselves, however they spend their days decrying colonisation as if it were…
Colonisation was liberation
Samuelson on socialism
25 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economic history, growth disasters, growth miracles, history of economic thought, Marxist economics Tags: East Germany, West Germany, economics of central planning
Vernon Smith on Donald Trump’s Protectionism
11 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, history of economic thought, income redistribution, international economics, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: free trade, tariffs
TweetMy emeritus Nobel-laureate colleague, Vernon Smith, sent the following email to me in response to this post. I share Vernon’s note with his kind permission. Don, Trump, like all businesspersons turned political, wants government favors, that is Mercantilism which is as bad today as when Adam Smith railed against such cozy relationships. Same for labor…
Vernon Smith on Donald Trump’s Protectionism
Power supply
07 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, energy economics, growth miracles Tags: China
China Still Building Coal Power Plants
04 Sep 2025 Leave a comment
in development economics, economics of climate change, energy economics, environmental economics, environmentalism, global warming, growth miracles Tags: China, coal power
By Paul Homewood China continues to burn more and more coal, according to dw.com: China burned more coal at power plants between January and July of 2025 than at any time since 2016, despite massive renewable capacity, according to new environmental research report. The report, published by the Center for Research on Energy and […]
China Still Building Coal Power Plants
Inside India’s endless trials
03 Sep 2025 1 Comment
in comparative institutional analysis, development economics, economic history, economics of crime, growth disasters, growth miracles, law and economics, property rights Tags: India
The FT’s Krishn Kaushik covers the courts in India: …in one recent example a Delhi court concluded a property dispute after 66 years. Both the original litigants were dead. Still, the lawyer for one of the warring parties cautioned that the conclusion was in fact not the end, as the ruling would be appealed. Three […]
Inside India’s endless trials
Exports
31 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in development economics, economic history, growth miracles, international economics Tags: free trade
The Ongoing Tragedy of Cuban Socialism
30 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, econometerics, economic history, economics of bureaucracy, growth disasters, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, law and economics, Marxist economics, property rights, Public Choice Tags: Cuba
I’ve written several articles about the failure of Cuban socialism (2024, 2022, 2021, 2019, and 2016). My leftist friends almost always respond by claiming that U.S.-imposed trade restrictions are the primary reason for Cuba’s terrible economy. Since I like free trade, I certainly agree that trade restrictions are bad for growth (a lesson I wish […]
The Ongoing Tragedy of Cuban Socialism
Civitas Institute’s Tariff Symposium
28 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, development economics, history of economic thought, international economics, politics - USA Tags: tarrifs
TweetThe Civitas Institute at UT-Austin just published a superb symposium on tariffs, with contributions by Richard Epstein, Samuel Gregg, Dirk Mateer, Dominic Pino, and my intrepid Mercatus Center colleague, Veronique de Rugy. Below are some slices. “The Man Who Knew Too Little: Donald Trump on Tariffs” (Richard Epstein): It is a dangerous state of affairs…
Civitas Institute’s Tariff Symposium
The Most Important Election(s) of 2025
28 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Austrian economics, development economics, economic growth, economics of regulation, fiscal policy, growth disasters, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, liberalism, libertarianism, macroeconomics, monetary economics, Public Choice, unemployment Tags: Argentina
Javier Milei has generated amazingly good results in just 20 months. But more reform is needed to undo the damage of 80 years of Peronism, which is why I explain that Argentina’s mid-term elections will be very important. Milei wants to turn Argentina into the world’s freest economy. That won’t be possible so long as […]
The Most Important Election(s) of 2025
More On Alleged Chinese Dumping
24 Aug 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, development economics, economic history, entrepreneurship, growth miracles, history of economic thought, industrial organisation, international economics, politics - USA, Public Choice, rentseeking Tags: free trade, tariffs
TweetHere’s a second note to a commenter at my Facebook page. Mr. Schlomach: Commenting on my Facebook page, you allege that China ‘dumps’ goods in the U.S. and, in doing so, “has used our love of cheap stuff to suck our country of strategically critical technology/industry.” By suggesting that your fellow Americans buy stuff simply…
More On Alleged Chinese Dumping
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
Recent Comments